Liverpool headed home with a burning sense of injustice after their 24-game unbeaten run was ended in controversial fashion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Arne Slot is furious that referee Stuart Attwell did not show Lucas Bergvall a second yellow card for hitting Kostas Tsimikas long before the Swedish teenager scored the winning goal in the first leg of the semi-final. The Carabao Cup final last night. With Tsimikas out of the box after treatment, Liverpool were down to 10 men when the goal scored, causing their first defeat since Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win at Anbox on 14 September.
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“I don’t think there’s any debate,” Slot said. “They say he (Bergvall) didn’t stop the counter-attack. I think every manager would prefer to have a second yellow card for the other team rather than to finish the counter-attack with a man less to play with.
“Nobody would have thought it would have such a big impact 30 seconds later. I’m 99.9 per cent sure that when Bergvall scored, the referee was like, ‘Ah, is this really happening?’ He couldn’t change it anymore.”
– Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) January 8, 2025
The damage can be repaired in the second leg on February 6. The Carabao Cup holders will fancy their chances of overturning the narrow deficit at home and booking a return to Wembley on March 16 against either Arsenal or Newcastle.
But Wednesday’s final match shouldn’t be hard to wrap my head around the fact that Liverpool put on such a dull display overall.
For the second game in a row, after Sunday’s 2-2 draw at home to a struggling Manchester United in the Premier League, Slot’s team lacked the energy, dynamism, control and composure they needed. has demonstrated the maximum of the Dutchman’s six-month reign so far.
Once again they missed the athletic qualities and creativity of Dominik Szoboszlai, who is still on sick leave. Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo looked off and Diogo Jota is still racing to regain his sharpness after his injury as he made his first start since Oct. 20.
Tottenham, beaten 6-3 by Liverpool here in the league just 17 days earlier, were already without 10 first-team players when they lost midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur amid worrying early scenes. However, the Premier League leaders have not known how to take advantage of this vulnerability due to a lack of sufficient intensity.
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That past, just before Christmas, Liverpool won the starting spot in the last final ten times, compared to Spurs’ five. They also created 11 great opportunities (as explained via Opta) compared to two. Last night, the roles were reversed, with those two statistics in favor of the locals: 5-2 in ownership won in the final third and 4-3 in great opportunities.
A second defeat in 29 games with Slot is not a major cause for concern. Six things clear at the top of the Premier League with one game less, leading the way to the Champions League with a hundred percent record after six. of the 8 rounds of the league and potentially 90 minutes away from a final at Wembley in that competition. A position of strength.
A key group of workers will be able to get on their feet when the Ligue 2 side stop at Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup on Saturday. It would be a wonder if Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo and Luis Díaz were not part of the holiday. No risks can be taken with a very important league to get Forest fit on Tuesday.
Instead, the third circular tie against the opposing sides, the sixth from the back of English football’s fourth tier, provides a platform for talented teenagers such as Jayden Danns, James McConnell and Trey Nyoni. Harvey Elliott also wants a few minutes after being overlooked last night, Federico Chiesa is only expected to make his moment to start since joining the club in the summer and Darwin Nunez is expected to be involved, given that he will serve a suspension. an opposite adjustment to Forest.
This is where Slot has the least room for maneuver.
Illness rather than injury forced Jarell Quansah off in the first half here and it remains to be seen how quickly he recovers. Quansah has endured a difficult season so far, with his confidence taking a succession of knocks.
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With Joe Gomez (hamstring) already sidelined, Wataru Endo will likely get more playing time as a makeshift center back. It’s a position the 31-year-old Japanese foreigner held earlier in his career at Shonan Bellmare and Urawa Red Diamonds in his home country, but betting there at this point is a big deal.
Slot initially turned to Endo rather than Konate off the bench on Wednesday as he is keen to avoid overburdening the Frenchman so soon after his return from six weeks out with a knee injury. When Konate was introduced late on, he did not cover himself in glory in the build-up to the goal as he was shrugged off the ball far too easily by centre-forward Dominic Solanke. However, keeping him fit is going to be crucial for Liverpool in the second half of the season.
If Quansah returns to face Accrington, Slot could make his debut for 18-year-old centre-back Amara Nallo, who has been an unused first-team replacement in 4 appearances since joining West Ham United’s academy 18 months ago.
Van Dijk was immense but Liverpool began to squeak defensively.
Yes, there were mitigating factors for the goal they conceded here, as they were momentarily down to 10 men and were surprised. But earlier in the evening, Van Dijk had to make a block to save the goal after a failed play by Alisson. and then Pedro Porro missed a goal by the goalkeeper. Solanke also denied a goal after a tight offside.
Like Sunday, it is too open and too simple to include in Slot. During the first months of the season they seemed more compact and confident.
Since their two consecutive victories against Real Madrid and Manchester City in November and early December, Liverpool have conceded thirteen goals in nine games in all competitions. Their shutouts in this series came against Girona (eighth in La Liga) and West Ham (14th in the Premier League).
GO DEEPER
The Briefing: Tottenham 1 Liverpool 0 – Bergvall wins, Bentancur on stretcher, Slot toothless
“Very unlucky for us, because I never felt we were going to lose,” Slot said post-match. “Especially not after the first 15 to 20 minutes, because I did feel Spurs started the game better than us. But after that, in my opinion, we had most of the game control, played most of the game in their half, had much more ball possession and then a moment like this… If you go down to 10 for a few seconds against a team that can play good football, like Tottenham can, it’s far from ideal.”
Bergvall’s overdue turn was profound, but the truth is that what Liverpool had offered in the past was far from polished.
(Top photo: Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar Getty Images)